You might want to look into Marechal Foch and Leon Millot.
Wollersheim Winery near Madison grows a lot of Foch and Millot and
generally it does well there if you have a decent mesoclimate. I've
had wine made from Foch (Wollersheim) and I've had wine made from
Frontenac. In my opinion, the Foch was much, much better. While the
winemaking is also a factor, there are some odd flavors in the
Frontenac I just don't like. As others mentioned, there is some
serious deacidification you will have to do with Frontenac also.

Get your hands on a couple books: "Growing Grapes in Minnesota" by
the Minnesota Grape Growers Association, and "Northern
Winework-Growing Grapes and Making Wine in Cold Climates", by Tom
Plocher and Bob Parke.

BTW, I had looked into doing something similar when I lived in
Pewaukee, but then lucked out and moved to the Finger Lakes of NY
(lucked out in some ways, got screwed in other ways-like taxes).

Good luck.


(Scott B.) wrote in message . com>...
> Hi all,
> I'm a complete newbie to winemaking and had a couple of questions. I
> am moving into a new house soon and as part of the landscaping would
> like to use grapevines to define the back border of our lot. The
> house is in southern Wisconsin. 1. what types of grapes would grow
> best in this climate? 2. what is the correlation between quantity of
> grapes to finished product? 3. If I start with new vines how many
> growing seasons until I have a suitable crop for winemaking? Any and
> all information that can be provided will be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks,
> SAB